SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2251from women and children, gathered the men a short distance from their homes, andkilled them with automatic weapon fire. It was the first known attack on the Sikhminority in Jammu and Kashmir (see Section 1.a.). On March 25, security forcesshot and killed five men, alleging that they had been responsible for the March 20massacre. According to HRW, on April 17, gunmen entered the homes of severalHindu families in Kot Dara village, near Rajouri. They fired on unarmed civilians,killing six persons and injuring six others. On July 13, militants killed three Buddhistmonks in Rangdum, Kargil district. On July 30, militants hurled a grenadeinto a jeep carrying Hindu religious pilgrims near Gulmarg, killing one person andinjuring five others. On August 1 to 2, militants entered a camp of Hindus makingthe annual pilgrimage to Amarnath in the northern part of the state and fired automaticweapons at tents, the unarmed civilians in the camp, the pilgrims’ local portersand guides, and army personnel nearby. A total of 32 persons were killed inthe attack, all of them unarmed civilians. Similar attacks occurred throughout thenight of August 1 to 2, killing some 100 persons in various places in Jammu andKashmir (see Section 1.a.). On August 17, militants reportedly killed six Hindu villagersand seriously wounded seven others in Jammu (see Section 1.a.). On August18, militants entered a Hindu village in the Koteswara area near Rajauri and indiscriminatelyfired at villagers, killing four persons and injuring six others. On August18, militants killed three elderly men and a teenage boy, and wounded twoother persons when they fired automatic guns at civilians in Ind village, Udhampur.On August 20, a person shot and injured a Hindu telephone kiosk operator in QaziGund, near Anantnag. Also on August 20, militants entered the Hindu village ofIndeh, Udampur district and killed four members of a Hindu family (see Sections1.a. and 2.c.).According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, about 51,000 Pandit families fled theirhomes in Jammu and Kashmir due to the violence. Of these, 4,674 families are livingin refugee camps in Jammu, 235 families are in camps in Delhi, and 18 familiesare in Chandigarh. The rest still are displaced, but are living on the economy inJammu and Delhi. The Pandit community criticizes bleak physical, educational, andeconomic conditions in the camps and fears that a negotiated solution giving greaterautonomy to the Muslim majority might threaten its own survival in Jammu andKashmir as a culturally and historically distinctive group. On August 18, theJammu and Kashmir government adopted a proposal designed to facilitate the returnof Pandits to the Kashmir valley and rehabilitation of the Pandits. However,various Pandit groups criticized the proposal for failing to address the political aspirationsof Pandits, failing to provide economic guarantees, failing to provide adequatesecurity for returning Pandits, and creating special economic zones that wouldaggravate communal tensions. The proposal abandoned during the year. The NHRCreleased a 39-page report in June 1999, in response to a petition from HinduPandits alleging that genocide had been committed against them. The NHRC foundthat the crimes against the Pandits ‘‘fall short of the ultimate crime: Genocide,’’ butstated that compensation to the community had been inadequate. As a result, theGovernment’s monthly subsistence payment to Pandit families was increased.There were numerous attacks against Christian communities and Christian missionariesduring the year. In August the SAHRDC stated that there had been 57such attacks during the first 7 months of the year. The SAHRDC stated the attackshad taken three forms: Attacks on priests and nuns; attacks on evangelists and disruptionof prayer meetings; and attacks on churches, hospitals, and other charitableinstitutions. Attacks occurred in Tamil Nadu, Goa, Punjab, Karnataka, AndhraPradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, MadhyaPradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. There were a series of incidents in Uttar Pradesh inApril. On April 6, an angry mob, demanding a decrease in school fees and an increasein the number of passing students, harassed the principal of Sacred Heartschool in Mathura. The principal disputed an allegation that the harassment wasbecause of school fees, saying that she was harassed and chased by a group of youngmen (not parents of students) who also asked her questions about the religious textsread at the school. On April 10, Father Joseph Dabre, principal of St. Dominic’sschool in Mathura, was beaten by six young men who went to the school on the pretextof inquiring about admissions. On April 11, in Kosi Kalan near Mathura, 8 to10 assailants attacked Father K.K. Thomas at St. Theresa’s school when he rushedto the assistance of a servant girl and 3 nuns whom the assailants were attacking.Thomas was injured seriously; his attackers had not been found by year’s end.Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee asked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ram PrakashGupta for a detailed report on the incidents in the Mathura area. State officials alsoordered police to monitor closely churches, missionary centers, and other places ofworship after the attacks near Mathura. On April 26, the NCM visited the sites ofthe attacks at Sacred Heart school, St. Dominic’s school, and St. Theresa’s school,VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00095 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.035 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1